Quite a Predicament
by TheLexTurtle
Summary: Tigress becomes unconscious and severely injured during a fight. When she wakes up, she meets a tiger named Tao who is taking care of her in his home. As she heals, the two begin to form a friendship, but when she stumbles upon some secrets about her new friend, maybe Tao is more than what meets the eye... Rated T for some violence and a little language. I don't own KFP.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, FanFiction people! This is my first Kung Fu Panda FanFiction, and I just decided to write this, because writing is fun. This first part is kind of short, but it will be important later. **

Tigress felt like she was looking at the sun. Everything was so bright. The light hurt her eyes and she thought she was going blind. She closed her eyes tight and then they opened, three dark silhouettes stood a few feet in front of her, writhing in pain. She couldn't make out any faces, but the three figures were all screaming one thing:

"Help!"

Tigress immediately tried to run to them, but her legs wouldn't move. Looking down, she saw her legs were knee high in a black, gooey substance and she was quickly sinking. She needed to get out of there to help them. Looking back at the figures, they were still standing there screaming, not helping her out of the unknown substance.

Tigress was angry. "What do you need help with?" she screamed. "I need more help than you right now!"

The silhouettes didn't respond. They only kept screaming. Tigress was now neck high in the substance and thought she was going to die. Sucking in a ragged breath, she immediately went under and no longer heard the screams. Everything was silent.

Closing her eyes, a thought popped in her mind: This is it. This is how I'm going to die. I never even accomplished everything I wanted to-

"Tigress," an unknown voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

She opened her eyes to find she was standing in a dark room. Looking around, there was nobody in the room, until suddenly she felt a sharp object pounded into her back...

Tigress screamed as she woke up.

Her breathing was uneven and her heart was pounding so fast it should have blown into pieces. The room was dark, but she got up and stood in a fighting stance, just in case someone would attack. But as her eyes adjusted to the lighting, the room was familiar. It was hers. Her muscles relaxed and she felt safe, although annoyed.

_What the hell was that dream about? It made no sense... _

Tigress felt uneasy and for some reason... afraid.

Lost in her thoughts, Tigress didn't realize that footsteps were approaching her room, but her doors opened fast and suddenly, making her jump.

It was Po.

Trying to calm her heart rate down from Po's sudden appearance, she was angry at him. "Po. You gave me a heart attack."

Instead of Po apologizing like crazy like he usually did when Tigress scolded him, he just said in a drowsy voice, "I heard a scream and wanted to make sure everything was okay."

Tigress felt terrible. Although he scared her, he was a caring friend and just wanted to check on her.

_What a great friend I am._

She sighed. Tigress wanted to talk about her dream, but didn't want to bother Po about it and make him worry. Tigress decided the latter, since he was probably exhausted and she was too.

"Everything is fine, Po," she said with a tired smile. "Go to bed."

Po complied and said a "goodnight" before closing her doors and going back to his room. Tigress decided to attempt to sleep again, pushing the dream out of her mind. _It was nothing. Just a silly nightmare... It was nothing... _were her last thoughts before shutting her eyes and falling asleep.

Oh, but how wrong those thoughts were.


	2. Chapter 2

**I wanted to post this chapter sooner, but life gets in the way sometimes. Special thanks to MagicSprinkles and guest reviewer The Flame for the positive feedback. It really means a lot.**

_Fifteen days later... _

Tigress woke up to the sun rays slowly creeping into her room. Getting up, she stretched, got dressed and snuck quietly out of her room, not wanting to wake up Po.

It was Saturday, which meant that The Five and Po were free to go wherever they wanted in the morning, but were supposed to be back at the palace for training in the afternoon. Shifu was very strict about these rules, but however, he was away for a meeting. This meant that someone, meaning a certain panda, would likely stay out for the whole day.

Tigress looked at Po's room as she went down the hallway. There was no noise coming from his room. _Good,_ she thought. _He's still asleep. _

She usually hung out with Po on Saturdays, but for the past two weeks, he kept wanting to talk to her about the night she screamed. Tigress thought otherwise, and didn't want to talk about it at all. She kept replying to him with, "Po, I'm fine, really," but she could sense he didn't believe her. So, he kept asking her. The more he mentioned it, the more perturbed she got.

Tigress didn't want to have to deal with his questions today, so she decided she would be by herself.

She made it to the end of the hallway, and exhaled, not realizing that she held her breath the whole way down. Tigress turned a corner and bumped into a panda.

"Hey, Tigress!" he exclaimed. "Where are you going?"

She sighed. "Out."

"Oh. Mind if I join you?"

_Dammit... Hope he doesn't ask about it today... _

"Sure," she replied. Po seemed incredibly happy by her answer.

They walked out of the palace, joining the rest of The Five down to the village. Tigress and Po did their own thing and spent the majority of their morning looking in shops, talking to Mr. Ping, and eating noodles at his restaurant. For the whole morning, Tigress was content, until while eating noodles...

"Tigress, we need to talk," he said nervously as he finished his noodles. From the look on her face, he knew she was already annoyed.

"No, we don't, Po. I've told you for the past two weeks that I'm fine," her tone was snippy, which made Po uneasy. She wasn't usually like this to him anymore.

He looked at Tigress and she looked back, anger in her eyes. Attempting to remain calm, Po continued. "Tigress, you're obviously not fine. Every time I try to ask you about this you always avoid answering me!" his tone suddenly becoming slightly angry. She began to speak again, but he cut her off. "I just want to look out for my best friend, okay?!"

Tigress felt her eyes going wide. _Was I really being that mean to him? _She let out a breath and formulated her words.

"Po... I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he said quietly, yet sadly. He looked down toward his empty bowl.

They both sat in silence. It felt like time was going slower. Tigress began to wonder why she didn't tell Po about her problem. He was her best friend too after all.

_Man. I should probably tell him_.

"Po," she began. He looked up at her curiously. "The other night-"

"Po! Tigress!" a goose caught her off. "There are bandits near the bamboo forest! The rest of The Five are nowhere to be seen! We need your help!"

Tigress got down on all fours and began to run, ignoring Po's pleas for her to wait. She ran toward the forest at lighting speed leaving a poor, out-of-breath panda behind. As she got closer to her destination, something felt off. Her gut was telling her not to fight, but that was definitely not honorable, so she kept going.

She reached her destination and sure enough, right outside the forest, there were about two dozen wolves. Tigress hadn't seen a group of bandits this big in a while and it was the first time she would be fighting a group this big by herself. She stopped a few yards in front of the wolves as she and her opponents stood in a fighting stance. Her gut feeling was growing larger and Po was still nowhere to be seen.

_Come on, Po. I kinda need your help right about now..._

Tigress was the first to charge and the bandits fought back. The weaker ones went down easily, but the stronger ones were really putting up a fight. She was getting exhausted and regretted not waiting for backup. Her legs, arms and chest were screaming in pain. There were about three of the bandits left when there was a blow to the back of her head and she saw stars. Stumbling, Tigress fell down. She attempted to get back up, but that did not work, and she fell again. She was too weak to try another time.

_Oh man... This is bad. This is really bad._

Tigress heard one of the bandits laugh as she felt someone constantly kick her side. The world was beginning to go dark.

_No! I have to stay awake! I have... to... stay..._

Tigress closed her eyes.

_She felt so alone and afraid... Then, there was a sharp pain in her back._

Her eyes shot open and she was greeted with the terrible throbbing in her head, legs, arms, and chest.

Tigress was dizzy and could only see dark spots. She tried to move her dominant arm, although it would not budge. Tigress wanted to get up, but she was only wearing herself down. Then an unfamiliar deep voice was talking to her.

"Rest. You really need it."

Her vision began to focus and she saw a few candles that were lit, the interior of a wooden, broken-down house, and a tiger. He was sitting near her and dabbing her face with a wet cloth.

"You've been out for almost two days. It's a miracle that you actually woke up."

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"You were the only one there. I saw you laying on the ground and took you into my home," he said with a sad smile, which then turned into a frown. "You have a concussion, your right leg is broken and your left is fractured. Both of your arms are broken and you also have a few fractured ribs," he paused before he began again. "Tigress, you almost died."

She grunted in pain. "How do you know who I am?"

"Who doesn't?" he replied with a smile. "You're one of the greats!" he exclaimed, lifting his arms into the air.

Seeing his smile, she grinned back. "May I have the pleasure of knowing who you are?" she asked.

His smile beamed even brighter. "I'm Tao," he replied. Tao noticed she winced in pain, so he took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, which made her relax.

"Get some more rest. Even though you're a phenomenal Kung Fu warrior, you have some serious injuries and you need to heal."

Tigress listened to him, closed her eyes once again, and one last thought hit her before she went back to sleep.

_I was alone? Where were The Five? Where was Po?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys. I apologize for the delay. It's been a really busy and exciting week. That being said, my updates will probably be scattered until the new year. This is always a hectic time of year for my family, and family comes first. **

**Also, I should have said this in the last chapter, but I didn't think about it. Sorry, TiPo fans. This isn't your cup of tea. In fact, I actually don't want to write any pairings at all. I have thought most of this FanFiction out, and a pairing would just ruin it. **

**Anyway, on with the chapter! **

Po felt like the world was closing in around him in the Jade Palace. Viper and Crane were around him, listening to his explanation about what happened to Tigress.

"...and when I got to the Bamboo Forest, she wasn't there! I searched all over the place, but she was nowhere!"

"Po. You need to calm down," Viper said. "This only happened a few hours ago. She couldn't have gotten far."

Po sat down on the ground, lost and unsure of what to do.

"Besides. She's lived here for over twenty years," Crane stated. "Tigress will find her way back, and she can handle herself in any situation." Crane gave him a sad smile as the others nodded in agreement.

"I know you're right, Crane, but I still can't shake the feeling that something is wrong," Po said. "I'm going back out and looking for her."

"No, Po," Crane began. "If she comes back while you're gone, we're just going to have to look for you too." Po was about to protest, but realized he was right.

"If we don't find her by tomorrow, Po, we'll go looking," Viper said, seeing the worry in his eyes. Po looked at her and gave her a smile, which she returned. "Shifu returns in three days. Tigress should be back by then," she finished.

Po felt at ease. _ Why should I worry? he thought. Of course she'll be back. She's an amazing warrior for crying out loud! _

But no matter what he thought, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"Umm... I'm going to go out to the peach tree and meditate," Po said as he began to get up. He headed toward the exit, but when the panda opened the doors, there was a new sight.

A little caramel-colored girl bunny sat on the steps. The dress she had on was a little worn and she wore a necklace with a bright emerald. Tears streamed down her face as she turned to face Po.

She didn't say anything to him, but she had a look of fear on her face and she was shaking. Po decided to take her inside, where the two others looked at her with worry.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Viper asked.

She didn't answer, but made a scribbling motion in the air. Po seemed to understand while Crane and Viper were confused.

"I think she needs something to write with and some paper," Po translated. "Crane, may we borrow your calligraphy set?"

Crane hated other people using his things, but knowing this was probably important, he agreed. Po left for his room, got a few brushes, ink and some paper, and quickly returned.

After handing a brush, the ink, and paper to the little girl, she began to write. When she was done, she held up a paper to them.

"My name is Lin. My sister is missing and I am afraid. I think I am in danger," was what the paper read.

Po grabbed a piece of paper, a brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote, "where is your family?"

She wrote back with, "My mother died when I was born. My father left about a year ago. My sister's name is Jia and she went missing a week ago." Tears were streaming down Lin's face as she held up a portrait of two girls; a young bunny and an older bunny. Po assumed that the portrait was of her and her sister.

"Ask her how old she is," Crane said and Po scribbled. He held up the paper.

She put down the portrait and held up eight fingers.

"Can you talk?" he scribbled.

Lin was writing very quickly, then held up, "I have been deaf since I was born."

"Oh dear," Viper said. "What should we do? We can't communicate with her by talking, and we don't know sign language. Writing with her is a fine solution, but it will get tedious. There must be an easier way to help her."

"Well," Po began, but lost his train of thought. He looked at the portrait on the ground, then came up with an idea. "There is an artist in town. What we can do is have him make sketches of what Jia looks like. Then, we can put them around, and see if anyone has seen her."

The panda grabbed Lin's hand, which she accepted, and the four of them left the palace.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tigress began to stir as the evening sunbeams hit her eyes. Looking off to her left, she saw Tao carving a piece of wood. She wanted a better look of what he was doing, but with her in an awkward position and barely able to move, even with her bandages, she just laid still.

"What are you making?" she asked.

Tao looked at her, then quickly piece of wood behind him. "N-nothing."

She smiled. "I saw that. Please show me."

Tao sighed in defeat as he brought back out the piece of wood. It was a carving of a rose. The petals were beautifully and perfectly carved and the leaves were just the right length. He wasn't quite finished with the stem, but the whole carving was breathtaking.

"Tao. This is-"

"Terrible," he said as he looked away in disappointment. "It's one of the worst things I've ever done."

"No. It is beautiful. This is one of the greatest works of art I have ever seen," Tigress said. Tao just laughed.

"I don't agree with you, but thanks," he finished with a smile.

The air was silent and a bit uncomfortable, so Tao began to carve again. Tigress watched him, fascinated with his work.

"Do you do this kind of thing for a living?" she asked.

"Yeah. I own an art shop in town. Two other artists work there as well, but I'm there most of the time," he said. "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to leave you soon. It's almost my shift."

She suddenly became worried. _What if something happens to me when he's gone? I can't defend myself... _

"Can I go with you?" she asked as he began to get up.

He looked at her. "Sorry. You're not well enough yet to travel."

She looked away, fear consuming her, but he lifted up her chin and their eyes met. "But I will promise to end a little early, so you won't be alone. Trust me, Tigress. Nothing will happen to you."

Tigress smiled as he got up, said goodbye, and went out the door.

"Well, the only thing I can really do now is sleep," she said to herself.

She had a pleasant dream about roses.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a bit of searching, Po found the art shop. Smiling at Lin, they went inside as a tiger greeted them at the counter.

"Hello. My name is Tao. What can I do for you?"

"We need about a hundred posters of this woman," Po said. "Her name is Jia. She is missing and her sister wants to find her." He held up the portrait of the two bunnies and pointed to the older one. Tao took the portrait and observed it.

_No... How did this happen?_ Tao thought.

He smiled at his customers. "If you don't mind, I will keep this," Tao said. "A hundred posters is a big job. I need about two days. Anything else I can do for you?"

Po came up with another idea. He turned around to the others. "Guys, what if we made some posters for Tigress? Just in case she doesn't come back."

"Po. That's a terrible idea," Crane said. "If word got out that one of the greatest Kung Fu warriors of all time went missing, it would definitely cause a panic."

Po sighed. He really wanted to find his best friend. The panda thanked Tao, and the group left the shop. Tao's eyes narrowed. He quickly stuffed the portrait in his back pocket, and closed the shop.

The sun began to set on another day as shops closed and families were reunited for another night. Everyone seemed at peace.

Except for Tao.

_This is impossible! _ Tao thought. _I told him exactly what to do, and he didn't do it! _

He ran back to his home and quietly opened the door. Tigress was still asleep. Tao crept inside and pulled out a key. He unlocked a drawer, shoved the portrait inside, and locked it again. He clenched his forehead, breathing heavily. Tao was angry, afraid, lost, and he wanted to scream. But, he didn't want to make Tigress worried. No... She had trusted him so much already.

Tao swallowed the feelings he had and immediately became his usual self again as he heard Tigress start to wake up.

"Hey. You hungry?" he asked her, and she nodded.

The two of them happily ate some leftover rice and Tao acted like nothing ever happened.


	4. Announcement

**Hey, guys! **

**My plan was to post a new chapter by Christmas. Sadly, that did not happen. But don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the FanFiction, however it will be a bit more delayed than I intended. With the holidays practically here and my exams after break, I will be engaged with a lot of other stuff. Although, I am planning to have a chapter posted by New Year's, unless if something else comes up. I'm so sorry for not posting sooner, but thank you all so much for being patient. Have a wonderful Christmas! :)**

**TheLexTurtle**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hello, people! This chapter is mainly about Tigress and Tao and this will likely be my last update of 2014. I am swamped with plans until the new year, so I am really sorry. Also, I apologize for my chapters being so short. It should be smooth sailing during the beginning of 2015, so hopefully my chapters will be longer. Also, thanks for the kind and helpful feedback. You readers are really awesome. **

Tigress didn't really know why, but talking with Tao about his past made her calm. He was finishing up a story about how he and his siblings pulled a prank on their mother.

"I didn't know you were the second oldest in a family," Tigress said, laughing. "That's pretty amazing!"

"Yup. The second child out of six. We weren't the richest or the healthiest family, but we made do," Tao finished with a smile.

Both tigers had blankets on, trying to warm themselves up on the chilly night. It was getting late, and the two of them were getting incredibly drowsy. Ignoring his sleepiness, Tao pulled out a poster and began to sketch on it. This piqued Tigress' curiosity, and by a small wince of pain, she managed to sit up and see what he was doing.

"What are you drawing?" Tigress asked.

Tao looked up at her, giving her his full attention. "Someone came to me at my shop requesting many missing posters. I'm drawing a picture of a bunny named Jia, who apparently has been missing for weeks."

"Oh my," she said. "That's terrible."

"Yeah," Tao stated sadly before going back to his work. Tigress watched how meticulous he was in his drawing. The caramel colored hair, the green-blue eyes, the shape of the face... It all was perfect.

"Tao, how do you draw like that?" Tigress asked.

He chuckled. "Years and years of practice. I've been drawing since I was five, and that was twenty years ago."

"What made you want to draw?"

Tao sighed, put down the pencil and stared at the poster in his hands. "As much as I want to tell you, I can't. That is a part of my life I don't really want to discuss."

"But, Tao," Tigress began, "You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I'm your friend."

"I know that. I just don't want to talk about it," Tao said in a rather irritated tone, clenching up the piece of artwork.

"But if you ever do, I'm right-"

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!" he screamed as he ripped the poster in half. The head of the drawing was disconnected from the rest of the body. Without it together, the drawing didn't seem as beautiful any longer. It was more lifeless.

Tigress looked at him, shocked and a bit afraid. Tao looked surprised at what he had done. He looked down at the creation he had just destroyed. "Shit," was all Tao simply said as he realized he couldn't fix it. He looked over at Tigress, seeing the fear in her eyes, suddenly feeling terrible.

"I'm sorry, Tigress. It's been a long day, I've been working on this project for hours, and my temper isn't exactly the best when I'm tired. Please, forgive me," he said.

She looked down, processing all that happened in the last moment. Tigress looked up at him then with a smile. "You're forgiven."

Tao smiled as he pulled her into an embrace. "Thank you," he said. "I don't think I could bear losing another friend."

_I don't think I could bear losing another friend... _The words were etched into Tigress' mind, and she couldn't help but feel concerned. He was her friend too, after all. Wanting to ask him about it, but not wanting to cause another outburst, Tigress quickly changed the subject.

"You know, if you teach me how to draw so well, when I get stronger, I can teach you Kung Fu."

Tao beamed. "That sounds like a great plan."

He got out a paper and another pencil and handed then to Tigress.

"Now first, you want to sketch out your design. It can be whatever you want, and I'll go step by step with you," Tao said. "What would you like to draw?"

She thought about it for a moment, and got her idea. Although Tao was a great friend, Tigress really missed her best friends at the Jade Palace.

"How about a panda?" she asked.

"Sure," he said. "We can draw a panda."

Tao worked with her through the drawing step by step. Starting by sketching, then growing on the sketch, until the details really started to shine. By the end of it, Tao's panda looked realistic, almost as if it could pop out of the page. Tigress'... not so much. It looked decent by itself, but with the two side by side, it was pretty obvious she was a beginner, which made her slightly discouraged. Tao noticed this and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Remember. This amount of skill took me twenty years. I was nowhere near perfect my first time. Your first try at this was probably better than my first attempt ever!" he exclaimed.

Tigress smiled, putting a hand on Tao's. "Thanks for teaching me," she said. "Maybe we can have another lesson tomorrow?"

Tao looked down at her hand on his hand. His cheeks felt warm and Tao really wished she couldn't see him blushing. He quickly pulled his hand away and looked over to a wall. "Uhh, yeah. No problem, Tigress. We can do another lesson tomorrow."

She smiled at him. Even though Tao was awkward and had a bit of a temper, he was still really kind to her.

"You should probably get some sleep," Tao said. "I have some business to take care of outside." he handed her the drawing she sketched of a panda, stood up, and began to walk away.

"Okay. Goodnight, Tao."

He stopped in his tracks and looked toward the ground, a small grin appearing on his face as he glanced at the hand that Tigress' hand was on. He had never been this happy around someone. "Goodnight, Tigress."

Tigress snuggled down, wrapping the blanket even more around her. The light was dimming in the room and she caught one last glimpse of her artwork before dozing off. Releasing one hand off the blanket, she grabbed the paper and held it close.

"Po. I hope you guys know I'm okay."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tao made it exactly where he wanted. In the bamboo forest, with the wolf he was looking for tied up against a tree. He was struggling, but two other wolves nearby were keeping him steady.

"Chang," Tao began. "You failed me."

"Many apologies sir, but she got away. I could only get the one!" Chang screamed.

"You were supposed to get both of them. With your incompetence, this will make it harder for her to trust me."

"Tao, really. I am sorry!"

Tao sighed angrily, palming his face deciding what to do. After a moment, his attention was back on his victim. "Chang, do you know what happens to people who disobey me?"

Chang chuckled nervously. "Sir, I didn't disobey you, I just didn't complete the assignment!"

"Still. You did not listen to what I wanted. I wanted both of the girls. Not just the one," Tao said, as he got closer to Chang, which made him gulp in fear. "Now, I have to find someone else to complete the task, since you did not do exactly what I told you to do."

"Please, Tao. Don't do this," Chang said. "I'll do anything. Give me another chance."

"But you might fail me again. That will not happen." Tao said as he pulled out a dagger, not listening to Chang's pleas.

Chang was never heard from again.


End file.
